


Does it matter?

by ToxicPineapple



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Awkward Relationships, Best Friends, Bisexual Character, Bonding, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Homosexual Character, Internalised Homophobia (mild), Late Night Conversations, M/M, Platonic Relationship, Self Acceptance, the gay talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 11:57:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18468478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicPineapple/pseuds/ToxicPineapple
Summary: “Okay, here’s another question. Does it matter what your sexuality is?”“Huh? What do you mean?” Hina’s voice sounds incredulous; a stark contrast from the dreamy quality it bore moments earlier. “Of course it matters, if I say I’m straight and then tell Sakura that I like her, she-”He doesn’t want to interrupt her a second time, but in the name of disabling that way of thinking, Makoto does so. “Have you ever told her that you’re straight?”“...no, I guess not, but it was implied…? I never told her I’m gay, y’know?”“Oh, why would that matter?”---Aoi has a sexuality crisis early in the morning, and Makoto helps her sort it out.





	Does it matter?

On a typical night, Makoto Naegi would be asleep right now. In fact, up until a few seconds ago, he had been. It’s the middle of summer vacation, so he doesn’t have any homework to stay up late doing (not that Hope’s Peak Academy is strict about that sort of thing) and any movies or TV shows that he might want to binge watch on this night and particular seemed less important, a couple hours ago, than getting some rest. He had spent the better part of the day riding his bike around the city with his best friend and also ex-girlfriend Sayaka Maizono riding on the back of the seat so he was pretty exhausted.

 

But when his phone starts playing loud music, he can only assume that this means he’s being called. It’s not exactly rare for Makoto to receive calls in the middle of the night. Attending a school like Hope’s Peak has blessed- or cursed, depending on your perspective- him with a number of friends who seem to view simple social constructs like respecting other people’s beauty sleep as foreign concepts. In fact, Makoto is expecting the call to be from his sort-of-girlfriend sort-of-friend Kyoko Kirigiri when it comes in, because she has pulled this sort of stunt too many times to count, so he doesn’t even look at caller ID as he pushes off his blankets and sits up, swiftly disconnecting his phone from its charger before swiping the answer icon and putting the phone to his ear.

 

“Mmmhello?” He slurs into the receiver, his voice huskier than usual. Makoto yawns, scrubbing his eyes with the back of his right hand, which is not being used to hold the phone.

 

Rather than Kyoko’s usual no-nonsense voice on the other end, however, somebody else begins to speak upon receiving confirmation that Makoto is there. “Oh, good, Makoto, I was worried that you’d be asleep right now.” Aoi Asahina says these words with her usual gait, but there’s a certain note of stress in her tone that makes him pay attention. Nevermind that the clock’s blaring red numbers are telling him it’s just past two in the morning; she shouldn’t be awake.

 

“Hina?” Makoto swallows another yawn and swings his legs off the bed, rolling back his shoulders to try to force some energy into the joints. “I  _ was  _ asleep, a few minutes ago, but nevermind that- what’s going on? You okay?”

 

“Of course I am!” Aoi chirps, but then falls silent, and Makoto doesn’t say anything, listening to the quiet. He’d take her word for it, but she doesn’t sound very sure of herself, and even though his mind is still operating under the haze of sleep, he can picture the expression she’s probably wearing right now, and if he had to guess, his light hearted friend is probably chewing her lip. “Just- I wanted to ask for your advice on something.”

 

Advice, huh? Makoto pushes his bangs out of his face and tucks his feet under himself tailor style, grabbing at his comforter and tugging it over his shoulders because it’s not particularly cold in his room but it’s still difficult to transition between being under the warm blankets and sitting in his sixty-degree room with shorts and a tank-top. “Yeah, okay.” As if there was ever a chance that Makoto would deny her request. “Hit me with it.”

 

He hears Aoi sigh on the other end, and there is some shuffling, like she’s leaning back. The couple times that Makoto has been to her house, and subsequently in her room, he’s been able to get a pretty good feel for the layout of her room. If she is, in fact, in her house right now, then she’s probably sitting on one of the many armchairs that she’s dragged in from the living room. Hina likes to live in comfort. “So, I know we’ve talked about relationships and stuff before.” Boy, she could say that again. Makoto’s ears warm just thinking about it. It’s not like they’ve ever had feelings for each other, or anything like that, but they have kissed a couple times- just to get some practice. “But I think I’m confused about the person I like.”

 

Makoto has half a mind to ask her who she has feelings for, but he figures it would be pretty insensitive, and it would also probably only serve to embarrass her, so in lieu of pressing for specifics, he hums out a non-committal affirmation as though to invite her to continue speaking.

 

“Like, I was pretty sure that I didn’t feel that way about them, but then we spend so much time together that maybe my feelings just changed and I didn’t even notice? Because it didn’t used to be like this but all of a sudden I feel nervous and happy whenever they’re around, and their presence just makes me feel safer.” Hina’s voice tapers off at the end. “But, maybe that’s just… maybe it’s just because they’re my friend?”

 

Admittedly, Makoto is already trying to compile a list of people who might make Aoi feel like this. It’s not like he has any particular attachment to the answer, he’s just curious. It’s the way he felt months after breaking up with Sayaka when she alluded to having feelings for one of their classmates. It wasn’t that he was jealous, he just wanted to know who it was. And when she told him that it was Leon Kuwata, a classmate of theirs, it was a nice feeling, because he knew for a fact that Leon returned her feelings. He can’t really justify this feeling, but one of their upperclassmen, named Mahiru Koizumi, suggested that he just has matchmaker tendencies. (And Makoto isn’t really sure what to make of it but he’s not adverse to the idea, he supposes.)

 

“And I’ve always felt safe around them but now every time they smile or laugh I get this weird tickling feeling in my stomach, and I feel all warm in my chest when they look at me. I don’t know. I think I’d do pretty much anything for them.”

 

“Uhm, Hina, can I ask…?” Makoto takes Aoi’s silence as an answer and continues. “Why the they/them pronouns?” The only person that he can think of when he tries to think of people who use they/them pronouns is the other Byakuya Togami, the one in the second third year class, but he’s pretty sure Hina doesn’t have a crush on that Byakuya, no matter how much nicer he is than the real one. (Chihiro Fujisaki, their classmate and also the Ultimate Programmer, comes to mind as well, but Makoto is pretty sure that Chihiro is both cisgender and a dude. Not that he would feel any less fond of Chihiro if he  _ was  _ trans.)

 

“Oh, it’s just-” Aoi cuts off abruptly and then continues. “Well, see, I’m pretty sure I’m straight, because… I’ve never really felt this way about a girl before now, y’know? Except, I’ve never felt like this about a guy either, and it’s Sakura I’m talking about, but- I’m pretty sure I’m not a lesbian, so I didn’t want to make you think anything untrue by using- oh, I feel so bad though, Sakura being a girl doesn’t make me feel this any less! Just-”

 

Most of what comes out of Hina’s mouth is pretty much incoherent, but Makoto gets the gist of it. Gently, he interrupts her. “Why do you think you’re not a lesbian? I’m not saying you are one, I’m just wondering why you ruled out the possibility.”

 

“Well,” Hina sounds as though she’s about to give an explanation, but then she doesn’t say anything for a long moment. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it before, at least, not with girls, and I figured since I didn’t think about it, I’m just not. Y’know?”

 

Pulling his comforter tighter around his shoulders, Makoto hums, contemplative. Of course, there is no way that he can figure out what Aoi’s sexuality is because that’s up to her judgement and ultimately the label she will choose to use in the end probably won’t even be as accurate as it could be. Everybody experiences and processes things differently so his definition of homosexuality might be different from hers. Besides that, Makoto is bisexual, and has known as much from a young age (plus his folks have always been willing to work with him when it comes to figuring out his preferences), so there isn’t much he can use to weigh in or relate to her situation.

 

So he tries a different approach. “Would there be something wrong with it if you  _ were  _ a lesbian?”

 

There is more shifting on the other end, as though Aoi is moving around while she’s thinking about it. Finally, with some weight, “No,” she replies in a murmur. “There wouldn’t. Especially not when it comes to having feelings for Sakura.” Her tone simmers down a little when she says her friend’s name, and when she speaks next, Makoto can hear the smile in her voice. “I was worried about it earlier today, because I’ve always said that I’m straight, but then I thought, well, even if I’m not, I could do a lot worse than having a huge crush on Sakura, y’know? Because she’s so…”

 

Makoto is sure, no matter how eloquently Hina phrases the thoughts that are on her mind, that she won’t be able to properly articulate her feelings in a way that he will understand. It’s not on account of him disliking Sakura, or anything, because of course they’re close friends and there is nobody in this world who he actively dislikes who isn’t named Junko Enoshima, but he doesn’t share Aoi’s feelings, so he can’t relate. Still, it makes him smile, hearing the smile in his friend’s voice.

 

“Okay, here’s another question. Does it matter what your sexuality is?”

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” Hina’s voice sounds incredulous; a stark contrast from the dreamy quality it bore moments earlier. “Of course it matters, if I say I’m straight and then tell Sakura that I like her, she-”

 

He doesn’t want to interrupt her a second time, but in the name of disabling that way of thinking, Makoto does so. “Have you ever told her that you’re straight?”

 

“...no, I guess not, but it was implied…? I never told her I’m gay, y’know?”

 

“Oh, why would that matter?” Makoto can’t help the little bit of heat that colours his tone. “You didn’t tell her that you’re gay or straight, but that doesn’t mean there’s any reason for her to think that you’re one or the other. Straight isn’t the default, you know? Just because we don’t talk about it, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.”

 

Hina huffs. “You say that, Makoto, but you’re dating a girl, so how would you even know?”

 

Well, bold of her to assume that he’s actually gotten to that stage of his relationship with Kyoko. Things are always so weird with her. “I’m bisexual.” Makoto frowns. “I had a massive crush on Byakuya at the beginning of this year, before Kyoko and I really started hanging out.” Actually, he still sort of has a crush on Byakuya, but his feelings for Kyoko right now kind of made him switch priorities. If things don’t work out well between them, it’s possible that he’ll look into pursuing the affluent progeny again in the future. “Aww, Hina, you even saw how much I was dying when Nagito Komaeda was flirting with me at Ibuki’s party last week.”

 

“What? I thought that was just the alcohol.” Makoto snorts, feeling some of his anger wear off because of course Aoi isn’t meaning any harm, she just doesn’t know a lot about this sort of thing, and it’s not really her responsibility to keep tabs on his romantic life. (In fact, that is nobody’s responsibility except for his own… and maybe Kyoko’s for the moment, if she really does intend on being his girlfriend. Which is still up in the air.) “I didn’t even… I guess I just assumed that since you dated Sayaka and expressed such interest in Kyoko, you only liked girls.”

 

Even though he’s smiling again, Makoto can’t help rolling his eyes. “I only talked about Kyoko with you because you harassed me into it, you know.”

 

“What? Did you not tell me about Byakuya because you thought I wouldn’t accept you?” Hina sounds genuinely concerned, and even though Makoto isn’t sure how she got from point a to point b here, he tries to sound patient when he responds.

 

“No way, I would’ve talked to you about my crush if I’d known it was something you were interested in hearing about. I’ve always known you’re not like that, Hina, I wouldn’t be friends with you if you were. You’re part of the get-Taka-and-Mondo-to-realise-their-feelings-for-each-other crew, so obviously you’re not prejudiced about that sort of thing.” At the mention of the ridiculous squad that their class has created, Aoi laughs, and some of the worry in her voice that was there previously seems to have been alleviated, which he is thankful for. “But, really, I’ll ask again. Does it matter what your sexuality is? Would the exact label that you use to define your sexuality change the feelings you have for Sakura right now? You’ve been using straight this whole time, after all, but the feelings have still developed. Plus, who knows if there’s anything sexual about your attraction to her. You might just be in love with her personality, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

 

“Makoto! Don’t talk about sexual stuff, you know that makes me embarrassed!” Aoi exclaims, and Makoto sputters.

 

“What?! I didn’t even say anything of that nature, I just- what did you think the word sexuality was referring to? Obviously-”

 

“I’m just teasing,” Hina says disarmingly, and Makoto shakes his head, suddenly feeling tired again. “But to answer your question just now, I guess the label I use for what I am doesn’t really make much of a difference. I still like Sakura.” She pauses, and he doesn’t say anything, allowing the statement to hang in the air. Aoi giggles. “It feels more real now that I’ve said it. I like Sakura. I like Sakura. I like Sakura!”

 

Okay. Maybe Aoi is only giggling so much because it’s past two in the morning and she’s probably very sleep deprived. Did Makoto mention that he’s tired? Still, he finds himself smiling and laughing quietly in response to her joy, feeling as though some of the weight that was resting on his shoulders a few moments earlier has been lifted. “You’re always together, in retrospect, I’m not too surprised to hear this from you.” He muses, scratching the back of his head. Releasing his comforter causes it to slip from his shoulders and he groans inaudibly, switching his phone from one hand to the other and pulling his blanket back up to try to get back some of that warmth.

 

“You’re going to have to help me figure out how to confess to her.” Hina declares, and Makoto sighs, because of course this was coming, but he’s not exactly unhappy to be given the role. Honestly, he’s happy that Aoi trusts him enough to ask for his advice. “Hey, I’m going to go to sleep, and you should too. It’s too early for you to be awake, you know?”

 

“Hey! You literally woke me up!” Makoto protests.

 

Aoi giggles but notably does not rescind her remark, or even offer an apology for waking him up in the first place. Go figure. “Alright. I’m gonna let you go now. But- thank you, Makoto. I feel a lot better.”

 

Flopping back down onto the bed on his back, Makoto smiles, closing his eyes and pushing some stray hairs out of his face. “Yeah, any time.” Apparently, he means that literally. If he’s going to pick up at two in the morning, he’ll probably pick up whenever. “I’ll text you or something when I wake up again.”

 

“Okay! Good night, Makoto.” He returns the sentiment and Hina hangs up, leaving him to listen to the dull beep that sounds at the end of every phone call. Makoto tosses his phone to the side, and in the dark, he can’t see where it lands, but from the dull thud that sounds upon contact with his carpet, he can assume that it’s somewhere close to his bed. Which will be great in the morning when he wakes up and needs to use it again.

 

Makoto settles back in, burrowing himself back in blankets and closing his eyes, happy to be lying down again and enveloped in warmth. For a moment he’s not sure that he’s going to be able to fall asleep again, after what just happened, but sleep takes him before he knows it and he slips comfortably into oblivion.

 

Until a couple hours later, at four, when his phone starts ringing again with a call from Kyoko. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write this one since I entered the fandom and I think it turned out better than I ever could've hoped, so hooray!!
> 
> bisexual Makoto is one of my favourite headcanons and I'm sure Sakura's boyfriend is great but?????? what the hell I ship her and Hina with my Entire Heart so y'all,,,
> 
> literally Hina is one of my favourite characters and this friendship? between Hina and Makoto? one of my favourite friendships.
> 
> also I don't like Naezono very much but Naegiri and Naegami are ICONIC also Nagito definitely has the hots for Makoto and you guys can come at me because IT'S THE TEA
> 
> anyway I hope y'all enjoyed. love me some comments. but if you don't has the time, kudos are also epic. or even just silently nodding at your screen and clicking off the fic, that uhhh, that works too. *sobs*


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